Alabama Croton

Size, growth and what to expect

It grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a loose, rounded shrub 5 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide. Crushed leaves smell of apples and bananas, and the oldest leaves turn orange before they drop.

Small, yellow-green flowers open in clusters 1 to 2 inches long at the twig tips from late February into early April. Bees and beetles visit them. The three-parted capsules, about a quarter inch across, ripen in May and June.

It grows on limestone glades, on shale and sandstone outcrops and along river bluffs, often on steep slopes, where it forms dense thickets. NatureServe ranks it vulnerable across its range, and its stands grow dense by spreading without seed. Only eight of its 48 known Alabama sites are protected, and logging has badly damaged some.

How to grow Alabama Croton

Alabama croton does best in part shade and also grows in full sun or deep shade. It wants a well-drained soil rich in organic matter, slightly acid to alkaline, and once established it takes dry spells. Plant it 5 feet from a wall, and set plants 6 feet apart for a mass. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. We know of no tested way to sow Alabama croton seed, and seedlings are very scarce in the wild.

Water weekly through the first summer, then only in long dry spells. Deer and rabbits leave it alone. The main task is keeping vines and pushier shrubs from overgrowing it. Low branches that touch the ground take root, and you can lift the rooted pieces as new plants.

Each plant carries male and female flowers, so there are no male and female plants to pair. No serious pest or disease troubles it.